Police: Teacher served pot-laced food at potluck dinner

Jan. 25, 2014
|

by Raju Chebium, USA TODAY

by Raju Chebium, USA TODAY

A teacher landed in jail after serving pot-laced food at a potluck dinner, police in Benicia, Calif., said Saturday.

Teresa Gilmete Badger, 47, was arrested Friday on three counts of poisoning, according to Lt. Frank Hartig of the Benicia Police Department.

On Nov. 21, several people got sick at a Thanksgiving potluck after eating food brought in by Badger, a teacher at Matthew Turner Elementary School, according to Hartig.

"They couldn't figure it out but they basically were getting high," he said.

Two adults sought treatment at a hospital and a 15-year-old boy who ate the leftovers also got sick. Their symptoms included hallucinations, elevated heart rates, shortness of breath, unsteady gait and lower-body numbness, Hartig said.

One patient's blood tested positive for Tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, an active ingredient in marijuana, police said. Badger's arrest came after a six-week investigation.

Badger "intentionally put weed into a food source and provided that to co-workers. I don't think it was malice," Hartig said, declining to say if it could have been a prank gone bad.

California allows people to use marijuana for medical purposes. Unlike Colorado and Washington state, the state does not allow recreational use.